Pubdate: Fri, 22 Aug 2014
Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC)
Copyright: 2014 Vancouver Courier
Contact:  http://www.vancourier.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/474
Author: Geoff Olson

CITIZENS BEING SHAKEN DOWN BY THE STATE

You may be familiar with the horror stories of British Columbians tied
up in a legal twilight zone after the seizure of assets for crimes
they did not commit. Property and cash can be grabbed even in the
absence of criminal charges or convictions connected to the alleged
crimes, often involving marijuana.

B.C. bud is not the main problem here. The real threat is an invasive
species known as the draconian "Civil Forfeiture Act" - the judicial
equivalent of fire ants, zebra mussels and giant hogweed.

The legal concept originated in the United States. In 1984 - an
appropriate date - the late U.S. president Reagan signed the
"Comprehensive Crime Control Act" that allowed law enforcement
officials to keep a portion of the assets confiscated during drug
raids and other interdictions.

As reported in the Business Insider in 2013, "Through civil
forfeiture, cops can take property they believe was obtained illicitly
before you're convicted of any wrongdoing in a court of law. The
people whose assets have been seized then have to go to court to try
to get it back, which may cost more money than the property itself."

In some areas, police are keeping 80 to 100 per cent of the assets
seized. In effect, the White House incentivized asset grabs by
nimble-fingered cops.

A 2013 New Yorker article examined the case of an elderly West
Philadelphia couple whose home was seized after their son allegedly
sold $20 worth of marijuana from their porch. They were not charged
with a crime, but they lost their home nonetheless.

The article also profiled Pentecostal church secretary Victor Ramos
Guzman, whose vehicle became a police-targeted pinata en route through
Virginia.

While on his way to buy a parcel of land for his church, state
troopers stopped him for speeding and seized all $28,500 worth of
parishioners' donations in his possession.

Civil forfeiture puts the burden of proof on the accused to show their
money and/or assets aren't the proceeds of criminal activity. If it
wasn't for Guzman's lawyer, who convinced the court of his client's
innocence, the church would have taken a big kick to the cash register
- - and the troopers would have had substantially more dough for
doughnut runs.

Since this is a story tailor-made for absurdists, the Daily Show
recently interviewed Texan mother Jennifer Boatright, who said she was
driving with her husband and their two children to a family event in
Linden, Texas, when state troopers pulled them over, searched the car
and seized their money.

As reported previously in The New Yorker, "Boatright was told she
could face felony charges for 'money laundering' and 'child
endangerment,' in which case they would go to jail and their children
would be handed over to foster care. Or they could sign over their
cash to the city of Tenaha, and get back on the road."

These are not anomalous cases. They're the result of a judicially
approved, $5 billion scheme for U.S. police departments to line their
coffers. At this point, the "Comprehensive Crime Control Act" is
better described as "The Law of the Jungle."

It's not unusual for police and paramilitary units in underdeveloped
countries to shake down citizens for cash. It's win-win for both the
enforcers and the local elite; the citizens become more fearful of
authority, while their state-sanctioned abusers draw from a revenue
stream outside a broken public sector.

MIT media critic Noam Chomsky coined the phrase "bringing the Third
World home." With that in mind, the term "police state" doesn't sound
hyperbolic in the wake of the Gaza-like operations by the militarized
detachment of Ferguson, Missouri, after local citizens protested the
fatal shooting of an unarmed18 year-old.

The so-called war on drugs has merged with the so-called war on
terror, sending a clear message to the huddled masses: bow before the
Praetorian guard of the ruling class, empty your pockets and shut the
hell up.

We do things more discreetly in Canada, where eight provinces host
civil forfeiture offices. In B.C., $41 million in property and cash
has been seized since introduction of the Civil Forfeiture Act in
2005. Even if our tactics are less blitzkrieg than those of our
neighbours, we're talking about an invasive species of law with proven
potential for abuse. It deserves to be weeded out from the courts.
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MAP posted-by: Matt